Railway mail-exchange apparatus.



A. HUPP.

RAILWAY MAIL EXCHANGE APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED ms. 25. 1915.

1 03,623. Patented Nov. 7, 1 916.

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l I U am 1 Q 2 I! I II I I l A. HUPP.

RAILWAY MAIL EXCHANGE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED rpm-2s. I915.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- A HUPP. RAILWAY MAH. EXCHANGEAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-25.1915.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

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ALBERT I-IUPP, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RAILWAY MAIL-EXCHANGE APPARATUS.

Application filed February 25, 1915.v

vented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway MaiLExchange Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail exchange apparatus and more particularly to automatically operating mechanism carried by a mail car and adapted to receive mail bags from a station crane located along the railroad.

The object of the invention is to provide a comparatively simple and efficient mechanism for this purpose which shall be adapted to receive the mail bags, when the train is moving at high speed, without injuring any of the contents of the bags. 3

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, as will appear from the following description, the invention may be embodied in different forms one of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings.l*igure 1 is a side elevation of a part of a mail car showing my improved receiving mechanism applied there to; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a mail car, in the rear of the receiving mechanism and looking forward; Fig. 3'is a horizontal section through the side of the car; the receiving chute being shown in plan.

Referring to the drawings; indicates the side of a mail car which is provided with a doorway 11, the doorway being closed by a sliding'door 12. A vertical tubular shaft 13 is supported in a step bearingl l and by a bracket 15 and has secured thereto a shaft 16 which projects through the floor of the car and has attached thereto an operating arm 17. The shaft 16 is also supported in a' bearing 18. The brackets 19 are secured on the shaft 13 and have secured thereto the substantially horizontal bars 20, these bars- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented No". 7, 1.916,

Serial No. 10,532.

as indicated at and the lower bar is bent downwardly as indicated at 24. An additional bar is secured to one of the brackets 19 and to the upper bar 20 by means of a plate 26. Short bars 27 and 28 are provided above the lower bar as shown in Fig. 1 and are secured to the lower bar by means of a plate 29.

Referring to Fig. 3 it will be'seen that the receiving chute has its outer end arranged against the side of the car when in the inoperative position. The chute is protected, in the inoperative position, by means of an angle iron 30 which is secured to the side of the car in front of the forward end of the chute and along the upper edge thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The bearing bracket 15 is secured to a bracket 31, which is bolted to the side of the car and, in order to give additional support to the. upper end of the shaft 13, a crossbar 32 is arranged on the interior of the car and provided with an elbow 33 on an extension 3st on which the shaft 13 is adapted to turn. The bar 32 extends across the car and has a similar connection with a vertical shaft 13. The shaft 13 is in all respects,preferably similar to the shaft 13 and carries a receiving chute which projects through a doorway arranged opposite to the doorway 11 so that the car will be adapted to receive mail from either side of the track. Since the receiving chute indicated at the lefthand side of Fig. 2 is in all respects similar to the chute at the right hand side of this figure, it is believed that a detail description thereof is not necessary.

By turning the shaft 13 the receiving chute may be moved to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 3, in which position it is adapted to receive mail from the station cranes, (not shown).

In order to firmly support and brace the receiving chute in the extended position there is secured to the outer side of the chute a member 35 to which the links 36 are pivotally connected. These links are secured together by a cross-member 37 and have their rearward ends pivoted to a vertical rod 38 which is slidable in the slots 39 in the guide members 40 which are secured to the side of the car. When the chute is in the extended position the links 36 engage the rearward walls 40 of the guide members 40 and thus enable the links 36 to brace the chute. v

Any suitable actuating mechanism may be employed for rocking the shaft 13 and an example of such mechanism is shown and described in my earlier application Serial No. 771,0a1, filed May 31, 1913.

On account of the bars 20 being spaced apart and, as shown in Fig. 3, passing through the doorway 11 at a point remote from either side of the doorway, it is neces- I sary to provide means for closing the spaces between the bars 20, when the door 12- is in the closed position, otherwise, there would be objectionable openings permitting the entrance of air and dust between the bars. For the purpose of closing these spaces the door 12 is slotted as indicated at 1 to permit it to be moved to the closed position, in which it engages the abutment 2, The series of slots tl leave tongues d2 which enter the spaces between the bars 20 and cooperate with the parts 43 of the brackets 19 to close the spacesbetween the brackets. In order to provide a substantial construction and support the tongues 42 plates 4114f. and -15 are arranged on the opposite sides of the door. and secured to the tongues as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed for opening the door and an example of such mechanism is shown in my earlier application above referred to.

In the operation of the receiving chute it is moved to the extended position shown in Fig. 3 and in this position, is adapted to engage a mail bag and remove it from the supporting crane and, as the car moves for ward, the bag slides along the inner side of the chute and through the doorway 11 into the car. The friction between the chute and the bag serves to retard the motion of the latter and the downward bends 22 at the inner ends of the bars 20 deflect tne bag to the floor of the car and serve to increase the friction between the bars and the bag. By having the bars 20 extend through the doorway and into the car, without break, there is provided a continuous path or chute for the bags which will insure a thoroughly safe delivery of the bags into the car.'

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In apparatus of the class described,

the combination with a railway car having a side doorway, of a vertical shaft rotatably supported on the interior of the car, brackets secured on said shaft, substantially horizontally arranged spaced bars secured to said brackets and normally projecting through said doorway, means securing the outer ends of said bars together so as to form a mail-receiving chute, and a sliding door, for said doorway, having slots to receive said bars.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a railway car having a side doorway, of a vertical shaft rotatably supported on the interior of the car, brackets secured on said shaft, substantially horizontally arranged spaced bars secured to said brackets and projecting through said doorway, means securing the outer ends of said bars together so as to form a mail-receiving chute, and a sliding door, for said doorway, having horizontally projecting tongues adapted to enter the spaces between said bars and cooperate with said brackets to close the opening between the rear of said bars and the side of said doorway.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a car having a side doorway, of a vertical shaft rotatably supported on the interior of the car, a plurality of substantially horizontal bars secured to said shaft and normally projecting through said doorway, said bars having their outer ends secured together to form a mail-receiving chute and their inner ends bent downward.

4.111 apparatus of the class described, the combination with a car having a side doorway, of a vertical shaft rotatably supported on the interior of the car, a mail receiving chute secured on said shaft and projecting through said doorway, and a bracing member pivoted to said chute and having a sliding connection with the side of the car.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT HUPP.

WVitnesses B. M. KENT, ARTHUR L. BRYANT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

